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SINGAPORE \u2013 A Singtel mobile outage that lasted more than eight hours on March 16<\/span><\/a> disrupted essential services in Singapore, including payments, ride hailing and food delivery.<\/p>\n The cause of the disruption, which started at around 10.30am, is still unknown. But the telco said it is not due to a cyberattack.<\/p>\n After more than eight hours, Singtel said in a Facebook post at around 7pm that its services were restored.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d like to update that 4G and 5G mobile services have been restored. We apologise for the inconvenience caused,\u201d said the telco. <\/p>\n Singtel posted another notice at nearly 9pm, noting that some customers could still be experiencing problems connecting to the network, and advised them to switch their device to airplane mode and back, or restart their phone. Customers may also call Singtel on 1688 for assistance. <\/p>\n It is not known how many Singtel users were affected, but service outage website Downdetector received thousands of reports from affected users, including those using its no-frills GOMO plans. <\/p>\n In a statement, payment services group NETS said that only merchants using Singtel cards in their NETS terminals, and consumers using Singtel\u2019s mobile connection to make payments, were affected on March 16. <\/p>\n \u201cUsers and terminals using Wifi connectivity should not be affected and merchants who continue to face issues may contact NETS Customer Service for assistance,\u201d said NETS.<\/p>\n Gig workers\u2019 ability to take on jobs was hard hit by the outage.<\/p>\n When Grab delivery driver Suhada Abdullah, 51, started her shift at 11am, she could not connect to the Grab app. When her connection was restored at around 3pm, she had already lost four hours of potential wages.<\/p>\n \u201cThere could be a 40 per cent drop in my earnings today,\u201d she said, adding that she usually earns about $100 during a 10-hour shift.<\/p>\n Gojek driver Lui Teow Eng, 56, was forced to take about a two hour break from around 10.30am to noon when he realised that he could not connect to the app after dropping off a passenger at Changi Airport. <\/p>\n Mr Lui, who earns up to $400 a day before deducting rental and petrol costs, said the disruption came at an unfortunate time when drivers were facing higher costs.<\/p>\n \u201cI might lose up to $100 in earnings, and may drive an additional few hours later today to make up for it,\u201d said Mr Lui. <\/p>\n Overseas Singaporeans were also affected. <\/p>\n Private banker Kelvin Tan, 46, was on a ski holiday with his family in Hokkaido, Japan, when his Singtel connection was cut off at around 11am.<\/p>\n Mr Tan, who works in a Swiss bank, was using Singtel\u2019s $35 14-day data roaming plan to answer urgent WhatsApp calls from clients. He was thankful he brought along another phone on the StarHub network.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is frustrating because Singtel prides itself and markets itself explicitly on being the widest and most reliable network,\u201d said Mr Tan. <\/p>\n Sector regulator Infocomm Media Development Authority said in a media response that it is aware of the disruption to Singtel\u2019s mobile network services.<\/p>\n \u201cIMDA takes a serious view of any service disruptions and will investigate this incident,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n Singtel commands half of the local telco market, with its 4.5 million subscribers. <\/p>\n IMDA requires telcos to plan, design and operate resilient networks, and put in place measures to ensure speedy recovery and minimal inconvenience to end users in the event of a disruption.<\/p>\n Under the Telecommunications Act, the authority may impose a penalty of up to $1 million, or up to 10 per cent of the annual turnover of errant service providers.<\/p>\n In October 2024, an unprecedented islandwide disruption<\/span><\/a> involving Singtel\u2019s telecommunications network saw hotlines of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and police, as well as those of hospitals and banks, made unreachable.<\/p>\n